Mending
by UekiKosuke
Summary: The classic 'Naruto get's sent to the past' fic. Naruto get's sent to the past with the help of Kurama with a small condition. Will Naruto be able to stop the war before it happens? Will he be able to save the other Tailed Beasts? Will he be able to save Uchiha Sasuke from going blood thirsty for revenge? Pairings up to vote, full summary inside. M to be safe
1. Prologue

_**A/N:** Please keep in mind that this is a fanfiction, and this is my take on how I think events would've turned out if Naruto were to be sent to the past._

_**Full Summary:** The classic "Naruto-gets-sent-to-the-past" fanfiction. Naruto get's sent to the past with the help of Kurama with a small condition. Will Naruto be able to fufil the request from Kurama? Will he be able to stop the war from happening before it happens? Will Naruto be able to change things for the better, or for the worst? _

**_Pairings for vote: _**_I don't know whom I should pair Naruto up with. Romance will not be the main subject, but there will be some of it. Please vote from the following: Shikamaru, Itashi, Kakashi_

_Any of the tailed beast talking will be highlighted **"Bold" **to easily differentiate what other's will be able to hear and will not be able to hear._

* * *

Prologue:

The war was finally over.

Naruto trudged back into his quarters in the Hokage Tower after a long day of helping with repairs and trying to lift the spirits of the people of his village. The aftermath of Pein's invasion and the final war against Madara had impacted too much of Konoha altogether as a village, and even with Naruto's support, it was obvious the villagers were lost and without hope. After all, Naruto himself had lost some of his shine in those clear blue eyes from all the hardships he was forced to go through. Closing the door behind him as he entered his quarters, he slumped on his bed, burying his face in his hands and resting his elbows on his knees.

"Kurama, where did it all go wrong...?" Naruto asked the demon, his voice muffled by the palms of his own hands.

Kurama chose not to say anything, closing his eyes and turning his back to Naruto.

This wasn't how Naruto expected his time as the Hokage was going to be. He realized his ideals were childish, and were quite literally, just _ideals_, but that didn't stop him from hoping; That was, until now. Naruto expected his village to live in prosper while he was the Hokage. He expected everyone to be happy, for everyone to live in _peace. _Naruto didn't expect much when it came to his future, but he thought he at least had a right to be _happy_, after all he's done for the village. He didn't expect much, Naruto _never_ expected too much... He just wanted to live a happy, peaceful life.

But some of his friends were gone, way out of his reach, the people he had respected were gone, and those he came to really cared for lost their beloved ones... Their homes were destroyed, leaving them homeless in a town that held so much memory... It was just too much for Naruto to see all these people suffer. It was too much for Naruto to handle all the despair and the loss.

It didn't mean Naruto didn't try, though. Every day, he would face the villagers with a smile on his face, trying to make the day at least a little better for the others. Naruto never had time to grieve the loss of his own; he never had time to mourn the loss of his beloved ones. One thing after another, something just kept happening that required his attention or his presence.

The time he had to spend alone was a rare moment nowadays, and he savoured every second of the silence. Using that moment to think back into the past, thinking back to where everything went wrong, wondering if he could've done anything to make things better... But they were just pointless musings. He knew nothing like such could be done.

**"Brat..."** Kurama finally spoke up after a long moment of hesitation.

"Hmm?" Naruto hummed, slowly tipping himself over, allowing his body to hit the soft mattress of his bed. "What is it Kurama?"

**"Did you ever think, about... what it would be like if you could go back in time to change the course of history?" **He asked, seemingly caution about how he worded his question.

"Every time." Naruto answered with a small sigh. "I wonder when everything started to fall apart... I wonder what I could've done in the past to avoid everything that happened... I wonder..." Naruto swallowed the big lump in his throat; "I wonder how differently things would've turned out if Sensei was fighting with me by my side..."

When the fox demon said nothing, Naruto asked, "Don't you?"

**"Shit..." **Kurama cursed as he stirred from his spot, **"I was saving this for when I really needed it... But there is a way I can help with that." **When Naruto said nothing, he took it as an indication for him to continue. **"I could send you back in time." **

Naruto chuckled, "I never knew you to be someone for joking."

**"Brat, I'm not joking." **Kurama growled in irritation.

"..." Naruto said nothing, pondering the implications. "What's the catch?"

Kurama seemed to quiet down at the question. We knew the request would be somewhat selfish... But he couldn't bring himself to ignore his own desire. **"Help the other tailed demons... Don't let them die as they did this time around..." **

Naruto closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath. "That's not going to be easy... I'll have to somehow prevent the war altogether..."

**"What happened to the big talk, brat?" **Although his words were mocking, Naruto could detect a hint of worry from how strained it sounded.

"I said I wondered, I never said I was positive I could do it..." Naruto cracked his eyes open. "If you're willing to cooperate though, it could work."

Kurama huffed although his ears twitched ever so slightly at the thought. **"Are you sure? If there is a possibility of things getting better, there's always a possibility of things getting worse..." **

"What's life without risks?" Naruto grunted, "Even if there is the slightest possibility of me being able to save more people... I'll take the risk." He hesitated before adding, "And besides... This is the first time you've ever asked me for something... and I feel like I owe it to you, you know... having been trapped inside a body of a 'Brat' you so rudely call."

Kurama said nothing as he closed his eyes. He wasn't going to admit that he had gotten attached to his container, although he was pretty sure Naruto already knew of the development of their relationship.

"When, and how far back could you send me back?" Naruto asked, closing his eyes once more, feeling the exhaustion finally getting to him.

**"Just... Go to sleep... You'll know when you wake up." **

Naruto simply nodded, trusting his demon companion's word and drifted into slumber.


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N**: I already had the first chapter written, so here it is! I actually uploaded the first chapter earlier than planned, because I wanted to make an important announcement:_

_**\- I am looking for a beta-reader! - **_

_I was going to go and ask around, but I wasn't sure who was active and who were not... ahh... I just felt a little embarrassed about asking for help on my fics because I didn't know if they were even worth fixing OTL... so much work would have to go into it ahh... But yes, if anyone is interested, please let me know through Review or PM because I check both. _

_**Side Note**: Pairings still undecided! Please vote or I really don't know who to pair Naruto up with... I love all Itachi, Shikamaru, and Kakshi... So far I have 2 votes for Shikamaru._

_**Disclaimer**: I think I forgot to add this in the Prologue but, I do not own Naruto and the Original Plot. _

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Chapter One:

Naruto cracked his eyes open, feeling a lot stiffer than he usually did. His eyes snapped open in an instant when he realized he wasn't in his quarters anymore. "What the-" He rubbed his eyes, trying to rub the sleep away, "Kurama?" Naruto questioned but all he got was silence from the beast. Mentally cursing for the possibility of an attack, he jumped off the bed and got into fighting stance. It was when he scanned the room; he realized he was in a familiar place. A much too familiar place, he wasn't sure how to feel about:

_His old apartment. _

"Kurama? What's going on?" Naruto asked, relaxing and taking his time to really look at everything. The picture he had always had with him of Team 7 was absent; meaning Team 7 was yet to be formed... "How far into the past did you take me?"

**"Shut up, brat. You're giving me a headache."** Kurama stirred, growling through clenched teeth. It had taken up a lot of his chakra to take them back in time with all their memories of their previous life, and Kurama had been enjoying his sleep, trying to replenish his storage. **"You're in your 7 year old body, right before the Uchiha Massacre occurred. This seemed like a good time to take you back, getting used to your old body or toughening it up... And maybe do something about the Massacre..." **

Naruto flinched at the mention of the Uchiha Massacre. He knew that had been the start of Sasuke's hatred, and he knew the beast was right. If he could somehow do something about the Uchiha Massacre, Sasuke wouldn't be as lost as he was in hatred as he had been previously.

Perhaps it was time for him to go visit the Hokage.

"Thank you Kurama, and good work. Rest up, I got a meeting to go to." Naruto smiled softly which looked so foreign on his child-like features. Kurama grunted before he fell back into peaceful slumber.

Chuckling at the thousand plus year old demon's antiques, Naruto swiftly walked over to his closet, taking out his usual orange jumpsuit and tossed it on his bed. He still needed to get used to his small physique, but that could be done in due time. Going to the bathroom, Naruto took a quick shower and brushed his teeth, checking in the mirror to check if he looked at least a little presentable. After he was in the bathroom, he went into the kitchen and winced when all he found were instant cup noodles. Don't get him wrong; he loved ramen with a passion, he just preferred the cooked ones over the instant ones.

Reminding himself to get an apple on the way, Naruto went back into his bathroom and changed into the infamous orange jumpsuit. He loved being able to wear the jumpsuit again. It made him feel like a child: where he didn't have to worry about his precious people dying or him trying to lift their spirits up my forcing a smile everyday. After all, everything was forgiven as a child since being a child was reason enough. Naruto had to admit he missed his older body, just because things were more convenient for him in terms of physical strength, but with being older came a lot more responsibilities. That, he didn't miss. Being an adult had its perks, especially if you were a shinobi, but being a child once in a while wasn't too bad either. Finally putting his sandals on, Naruto headed out the door, jumped on the roof of a neighboring building and headed for the Hokage Tower.

Upon arrival, Naruto decided to use the front door, knowing how much the old man didn't like people using his window as a passage. Naruto glanced up at the two Jonin guarding the old man's door and smiled up at them and asked, "Do you mind letting the old man know I'm here?" When the two Jonin simply raised an eyebrow, Naruto chuckled lightly, "Please? It's a little urgent"

The two Jonin simply shrugged at each other and knocked on the door, "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki requests an audience with you."

When his entry permission was granted, Naruto flashed the two Jonin another smile before making his way through the door. Naruto glanced around the office as he entered and couldn't help but a wave of familiarity hit him. The posters, the books and scrolls on the bookshelves, the stacks of paperwork littering the head desk… No matter who was the occupant of this room, some things just never seemed to change.

"What do you want, Naruto?" The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, snapped Naruto out of his daze with his question. Sarutobi couldn't help but feel a little caution with the child being in his room, knowing how much of a prankster the other was. He expected an outburst, a challenge, or a declaration; He had been on the receiving end of most of his pranks after all. What he didn't expect was Naruto's eyes filling with tears and his expression morphing into one that didn't belong on an innocent child.

"Old man…" Naruto freely allowed the teary droplets roll down his cheeks, making his way towards the Hokage and throwing himself into the arms of the elder male.

Sarutobi wrapped his arms around the blond out of reflex; unable to fathom the situation he was suddenly put in. Did Naruto's loneliness finally trump his obnoxious attitude? "Naruto?"

"Aa- I'm sorry" Naruto apologized, wiping the tears away with the sleeve of his jumpsuit. "It's just- really good to see you again, old geezer."

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, peeling the young blonde off him and stared into his eyes. Was this really the same Naruto that had painted symbols on his face on the Hokage Mountain just yesterday? "Who are you?" He asked cautiously.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto quickly made the hand signs for the privacy seal and went on with his tale. He skipped over a lot of things; not wanting to get into all the details when he wasn't sure Sarutobi was going to even believe his story. Even without most of the detail, it took Naruto a good hour to go through with his story. Carefully, he took a peek at Sarutobi while releasing the privacy seal, watchfully registering his every reaction to his story.

Sarutobi released the breath he didn't know he was holding and walked past Naruto, "Call Inoichi and Shikaku." He ordered the two Jonin he knew were outside his door. Upon looking at the slightly panicked look on Naruto, he held up a hand to stop him from saying anything before explaining, "If what you tell me is true, then you should know Inoichi and Shikaku are one of my most trusted men." Pressing his lips into a thin line, Naruto nodded in understanding.

It didn't take long for the two requested men to show up. The both of them bowed slightly at Sarutobi in respect and shot Naruto a curious glance before they stood before their leader. "You requested our presence, Hokage-sama?" Inoichi asked curiously. Both Inoichi and Shikaku looked much younger than how Naruto remembered them. But now was not the time to be feeling sentimental. He had things to worry about.

"Yes…" Sarutobi seemed reluctant in sharing too much, and before any more could be said, Naruto quickly made the hand signs for the privacy seal once again, surprising both Inoichi and Shikaku. A child that young shouldn't have been able to learn such a complicated hand sign, especially when it required precise practiced chakra control. "Inoichi I called you here so you could go into the mind of Naruto to confirm a couple of things." Naruto winced, not looking forward to having someone go through the privacy of his mind. Inoichi looked surprised at the request but said nothing as he nodded his head.

"I understand. You're not going to like what you see, but I understand that it needs to be done." Naruto said, "But there are some parts of my mind that I have purposely blocked out," Naruto's unreadable eyes stared into the eyes of three adults in the room. "I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of that part of my mind..." He paused before quietly adding "For your own good..." The blocked bits were mostly the details he had left out while briefing the third of his situation. The adults didn't need to know the details yet.

Inoichi narrowed his eyes. This wasn't the same boy he had been hearing about, and it intrigued him to see what the child had to offer him. Although he was curious to explore every bit of the child's mind for any information on the sudden change, he respected the child's privacy and nodded in agreement of staying out of the blocked parts of his mind. "As long as I have enough from what you are willing to share, I will not go beyond." Naruto nodded stiffly before inhaling and exhaling deeply.

"Alright, ready when you are." Naruto forced a small smile before closing his eyes. Inoichi nodded and did the correct hand seals to activate the Jutsu passed down through his family and closed his eyes.

After having observed enough, Shikaku pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, what's all this about, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi sighed tiredly, slumping down on his seat. He rubbed his temples before saying, "Naruto came to my office this morning, through the door, _requesting _an audience with me." Shikaku raised an eyebrow but said nothing, urging his leader to continue. "He told me he was from the future." Shikaku narrowed his eyes disbelievingly. "Naruto explained how the Kyuubi in him helped him go back in time, with a small condition- but did not tell me what those conditions were."

Shikaku said nothing for a while, deep in thought. He's never heard of a situation where a person could be sent back in time, especially so far back. Theoretically, something like this was impossible, but the Naruto he had seen for the past 5 to 10 minutes went against everything he knew about the child, and the privacy seal… He himself had only learned how to do it as a Chunin. But the thing that he noticed most about Naruto, was his _eyes_. The saying goes, that 'the eyes are a window to a person's soul'. Naruto's eyes reflected pain, loneliness, which he could understand, considering the demon stored inside him, but what threw him off, was the fact that Naruto's clouded eyes also reflected _loss;_ The loss of someone important. Considering his age and his surrounding, there was no way Naruto could've figured out his parentage, and the only people who had that look in his eyes were the ones who had actually experienced _war._ What ever Naruto had experienced in the future it must've-

Shikaku was snapped out of his musing when Inoichi gasped for air. "What's wrong, Inoichi?" Shikaku asked, and when he was met with silence from his companion, he turned to question Naruto who had his eyes narrowed uncharacteristically.

"I warned you, Ossan. You wouldn't like what you see and to stay away from the memories I blocked away." Naruto said through clenched teeth, clearly irritated at the invasion of his privacy.

"What did you see, Inoichi?" The three had forgotten the presence of the Hokage, but Inoichi immediately straightened up, trying to keep as professional as he could.

"I'm not sure, Hokage-sama…" Inoichi truthfully said, "The images, the _memories_ I saw inside his head seemed as real as they could get… However I saw wars, several invasions, and…" He took a deep breath before continuing, "many deaths…"

Sarutobi closed his eyes momentarily, deep in thought before he opened them. "What you saw today, or what you heard today is going to be classified as an S-Class secret." When he got curt nods from the two respective Jonin, he continued. "As I have told Shikaku, Naruto here seems to be from the future." Inoichi didn't look surprised from what he saw in Naruto's head. "The Kyuubi seemed to have sent him here with a small… condition." Sarutobi turned to look at Naruto and addressed his next question to him. "There must've been a reason you decided to tell us, rather than going about your own ways and changing the course of History; what is it you need?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded. "Like you said, Hokage-sama, I could've very easily gone on my own ways to achieve my goals. However, like you said, I needed your assistance." Naruto took a deep calming breath before he continued. "Please let me go through with the Uchiha Massacre in Itachi's place."

Inoichi and Shikaku's eyes widened, having never heard of the plan yet, while Sarutobi's lips were pressed in a thin line. "How did you know about the Massacre?"

"Itachi told me the truth behind the Massacre during one of our encounters during my time." Naruto explained cautiously, "I can't tell you what happens if you let Itachi go with the plan, but I can guarantee I can achieve the same thing but get better results."

The adults silently watched the blond, unsure of what to say to him.

"I'm strong." Naruto quietly brought up. "Inoichi-Ossan already saw in my head, but in the future, I actually achieve my dreams in becoming the Hokage of Konohagakure. Only the strongest in the village can become the Hokage… Please don't make Itachi kill his own family…"

Naruto made an excellent point about the Hokage, Sarutobi couldn't deny. However he was still unsure of Naruto's full potential, having never seen him fight. Seeing as this was an S-rank mission, it was crucial this mission gets carried out with no mistakes. Had there been a mistake… a civil war could break out between the Uchiha clan and the rest of Konoha.

"Hokage-sama, I think Naruto is fully capable of going through with it." Inoichi spoke up, glancing at Shikaku to see if he agreed with him. When he received a nod, he continued. "From what I saw in Naruto's mind… I think Naruto is fully capable of carrying out whatever it is you had wanted him to do." He didn't know too much detail since he had not been informed of the Massacre, but he was confident the blonde could do it.

Naruto shot him a grateful glance before focusing his eyes on Sarutobi once more. "I won't fail." He said confident about his abilities.

Sarutobi sighed in defeat. He seemed to be sighing a lot today, and it was only the morning to… "Fine, permission granted. I'll brief you on the details and let Itachi know of the changes in the plan. I'd like you to come back to my office later tonight."

A bright smile making it's way up Naruto's features, Naruto thanked the Hokage sincerely, "Thank you Old Man. I promise you wont regret this."

"We'll talk more about this tonight." Sarutobi said, before dismissing the two Jonin after reminding them of the fact that this was classified as an S-class secret.

The two Jonin bowed respectively, but before leaving, Inoichi turned to face Naruto, "I hope you could prevent what happened during your time. We will lend you all the help we can offer, so come talk to us if you need anything."

Trying to hide the fact how much this meant to Naruto, he smiled, "Thanks Ossan."

When the two left, Sarutobi sighed tiredly. "Naruto… we'll talk more about this tonight- come to my office at 7pm. There's a lot of information I need to digest and sort out." Naruto nodded his head and he too, turned towards the door.

"Old Man, it's nice to be back… and Thanks, for taking care of me all this time." Naruto made the proper hand signals to release the privacy seal and headed out the door.

* * *

Naruto decided to head off to the training grounds. He had plenty of time before his meeting with the Third Hokage and Itachi, and he felt he could use the time to get physically fit. Not to mention, Naruto never did ask Kurama about which of his abilities he was fortunate enough to still be able to perform. He knew he wouldn't be able to summon the toads, and he couldn't get into Sage Mode yet, but he could still feel the chakra the other tailed beasts had left with him, which probably meant he could use some of their abilities. During the war, Naruto had the honor of being able to converse with the other Tailed Beasts while trying to save them, and they had given them some of their chakra to Naruto, hoping he would be able to defeat Madara. Thanks to that, Naruto was able to achieve the Six Paths Sage Mode. Naruto saddened at the thought of the tailed beasts, but that only drove his motivation further to try and help the demons.

Arriving at the training field, Naruto took a deep breath, dashing across the field to test his speed. Naruto pumped his legs to go faster and faster, pushing against the ground with the ball of his feet. But alas, no such luck. He noticed his speed was just as slow as he had been as a younger child. It was foolish of him to think he would still be able to run as fast as his adult form. But no matter, speed could be caught up with practice.

Next, Naruto stopped in front of a tree and threw a few punches and kicks to test his strength. Naruto winced as his fist connected with the tree trunk, his delicate fists unable to handle the impacts of the punches. Gritting his teeth, Naruto jumped back, charging at the tree once more while coating his hand with a thin veil of chakra. Balling his hand into a fist, he swung at the tree trunk as soon as he came close and watched as the tree broke in half where his fist contacted it.

Naruto grinned in satisfaction as the tree broke in half, Naruto decided to focus only on practicing taijutsu since he seemed to be lacking in this area. He needed Kurama to be in top shape for him to practice any of the jutsus and to test out which of his skills he could still perform. In order for his first mission in this time period to go successfully, he needed to be able to perform some of the more complicated ones after all. Shaking his head clear of any other thoughts, Naruto charged at the tree behind the one he had been practicing in and threw some simple punches and kicks, trying to get used to the feeling in his small body.

After what seemed like hours, Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead. He had been so focused on training, he hadn't realized he had skipped out on both lunch _and_ breakfast. The image of Iruka scolding him for skipping meals made Naruto shudder in horror. Scanning the area, the blond nodded his head, seemingly satisfied with the damage he had done to the training grounds and stretched his arms over his head. Naruto momentarily wondered if he should continue while he was at it, but his stomach seemed to protest as it released a loud rumbling noise.

Laughing, Naruto headed over to Ramen Ichiraku to enjoy a nice, hot, bowl of Ramen. He remembered how that particular shop seemed least reluctant in serving him as a customer, so as a child, he had gone there almost every day for a meal at least once a day.

Entering the shop, Naruto smiled brightly at the owner who offered Naruto an equally bright smile. "Ah, There's my best customer! I was wondering when you were going to show up." Naruto chuckled, taking a seat and scanning the menu for his favorite Ramen. "Will you be having your usual, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded his head vigorously. "You bet, Teuchi-Ossan! One Miso-Pork Ramen please!"

Teuchi, the owner of the shop merely chuckled at the child, turning his back to work on preparing Naruto's favorite ramen with extra pork. "Are you training hard Naruto?" He asked, curious about the state Naruto seemed to be in. Tattered and worn out, his jumpsuit soaking in something that smelled a lot like sweat.

Naruto laughed, "I'm going to become the Hokage after all!"

Teuchi rolled his eyes affectionately at Naruto's antiques. He was already used to the blond's declaration after all. So rather than commenting on it, he continued to work on Naruto's ramen, making sure the noodles were not undercooked or overcooked. "Here's your order!" When he was done with the order, he brought it and placed it in front of Naruto who perked up at the idea of food.

"Thank you for the meal!" Naruto dug in immediately, ignoring the stinging sensation on his tongue the heat was causing.

When he finished his meal, he paid the owner the correct amount and jumped from roof to roof to head home. He knew the villagers still treated him with malice when he was at this age, and he'd rather avoid any unnecessary confrontations with them. Arriving home, he discarded his jumpsuit in the hamper and took a shower, scrubbing away all the sweat and dirt his training has brought him. Once done, he dried off and put on his underwear, looking at his closet for anything else he could wear other than the jumpsuit. When he found none, he sighed and put the infamous orange jumpsuit on, and made a shadow clone.

"Transform and go get some normal looking clothes." Naruto ordered his clone, who nodded and transformed himself into a child he had met in the future from a different country.

"Yes boss." the clone said in a voice that was unlike Naruto's before heading out of his apartment.

About thirty minutes later, Naruto's clone came back with a black short-sleeved t-shirt with orange linings and the standard black ninja shorts that came down to his knees. Looking at his new set of clothes in satisfaction, Naruto dispelled his clone and slipped out of his orange jumpsuit before putting his new clothes on. He walked to the bathroom and glanced into the mirror, checking to see how he looked in them and nodded in satisfaction. It just felt so wrong not to have at least little orange on him.

Glancing at the clock, Naruto took note of the fact that it was already 5pm. He only had 2 more hours to spare before he had the meeting with Itachi and the Hokage. It wasn't enough to go training again, or to read a scroll or two in new jutsu's he might be able to learn, so he just decided to head over to the Hokage Mountain, where he spent most of his childhood, pondering life as it was.

When he arrived, he had not expected to see another person there as well, looking down at the village with a forlorn look on his face. Naruto sighed, trying to think of another place to go before he heard someone call out to him.

"You don't have to go because I'm here, this place is for the public after all." Naruto's eyes widened at the familiar voice. He knew this voice all too well.

"Itachi Uchiha…" Naruto drew a sharp breath, he knew he was going to have to face him later anyways, but their meeting was somewhat 'formal' and he hadn't prepared for a meeting with the older Uchiha in an informal situation.

"So you've heard of me I see?" Itachi glanced at the blond, waving his hands for the younger to join him. Naruto nodded his head slowly before walking towards the older male and sitting down next to him. "So, what brings you up here?" Itachi knew who the blond was, of course. There was no one in Konoha who hadn't heard of him. He just thought i'd be nicer to have the younger male introduce himself, rather than having the feeling of being constantly exposed to the public.

"I was just taking a walk before an appointment." Naruto wasn't sure if Itachi knew just whom he was meeting up with later on, so he decided to avoid the topic. "And you?"

"Same for me, I suppose…" Itachi hummed, turning his attention back to the village. "It's a little unfair that you know me but I don't know you, isn't it?" Naruto stiffened at the question. "What's your name?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto softly answered, as he turned, looking out at the village as well. "Sorry about that."

A little taken aback by the apology, Itachi shook his head, "It's nothing to apologize for."

The two continued to sit in comfortable silence, each lost in their own thought. Itachi was deep in thought, still trying to wrap his mind around having to kill his entire clan. He didn't doubt his skills, but there was just something inhuman about killing the people that raised you in a loving environment on an order. Yes, Itachi was great at what he did, but he wasn't a cold-blooded killing machine with the ability to kill the ones he loved on command. What was his brother going to do, knowing the brother he looked up to killed his own parents? Clenching his teeth, Itachi rubbed his temples. The Hokage had asked him to meet at his office a little later on regarding his mission, but had not yet told him _what_ the meeting was going to be about. They had all the details ironed down and the only thing left was actually carrying it out. Itachi had to prepare himself to leave the village he loved, kill his family, and he had to be prepared to live the life of an S-Class criminal. Itachi was a genius, yes, but he wasn't an adult. He was technically no older than a teen at best, he shouldn't have to be forced to make decisions like this- and yet… he did. Sighing, he continued his train of thought, momentarily glancing at Naruto to find a wistful expression marring his features.

While Naruto was sure he could carry out the mission without too much of a problem, he was still unsure of _how_ exactly he should carry it out. Using his signature moves would be a suicidal idea, since he was going to carry out this mission in his transformed form, and the last thing he needed was him being found out and being labeled as a missing nin.

He also needed to somehow get in contact with the other Tailed Beasts to inform them of the future, to better prepare them for what they need to protect themselves against. Of course, the other Jinchuuriki would have to be fully connected with their tailed beast for them to be able to talk to each other in the _Tailed Beast Psych Plane._

Sighing deeply, Naruto scratched the back of his neck. It was pathetic how he needed the help of Kurama so much when he had already achieved so much. He couldn't deny the fact that without the help of Kurama, he probably wouldn't have been able to get that far, but as the Hokage, he couldn't help but feel a little helpless in his current situation.

Naruto didn't realize Itachi was watching him the corner of his eyes from the moment he sighed. Itachi glanced to wonder what could've possibly gotten a child to sigh so heavily, when he noticed the helpless look in Naruto's eyes. Those eyes didn't belong on a child. "Is something wrong, Naruto?" He asked quietly, watching carefully for any reaction.

"I lost Gama-chan." Naruto replied, his expression remaining the same… or so he thought. Itachi didn't miss the slight twitch in Naruto's eyebrow.

"You're lying." He observed.

"I am." Naruto admitted with a strained smile. Itachi was going to find out sooner or later anyways. If his first lie didn't work, he was as sure as hell making up another one would be more than useless. "It's almost time for my- appointment. I'd better head off." Naruto stood from his spot and dusted his pants. "See you around, Itachi." Giving Itachi one last glance, Naruto headed off first.

The corner of Itachi's lips twitched. How foolish of him to momentarily forget he was talking to a child. Although the child he talked to just now didn't act like a child at all, the fact was, he was still a child no older than his own little brother. Taking one last look down at the village, Itachi decided to head over to the Hokage tower as well.

There were still much to discuss about the Massacre after all.


	3. Chapter 2

_**A/N**: So… I'm alive, and living. I'm sorry for the lack of updates._

**_Still looking for a Beta Reader!_**

_**Side Note:** Pairings still undecided_

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters or the original plot to Naruto_

* * *

Itachi couldn't help but stare at the blonde standing stiff next to him. When the child had said he had an appointment, he never imagined it would be with the Hokage himself, more or less the same meeting as him. Naruto seemed so different from what he had heard from the villagers though: A forlorn look marred his facial expression, contradiction his childish features, his lips were pressed into a thin line, making him look as if he was deep in thought, eyebrows furrowed as if trying to understand something difficult, and most of all, his eyes, clouded with so much he couldn't fathom.

"Itachi, I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here today on an emergency meeting." The Third Hokage started carefully, eyeing the two in his office.

Itachi glanced down at Naruto, confusion evident on his face. What was the Hokage _thinking? _Having been informed beforehand about what the meeting was going to be about, albeit briefly, Itachi knew this was no place for Naruto to be.

Not missing the glance, the Third said, "No need to look so anxious, Itachi. Naruto is the reason we are holding this meeting after all."

While Itachi stared at his leader in confusion, Naruto took this as his opportunity to step in. "Yes... You see, I know about the massacre, what you will be forced to commit in just a week."

"How...?" Itachi's eyes widened, staring at the young blond in complete disbelief, dumbfounded.

Naruto once again made the correct hand seals for the privacy jutsu, which didn't go unnoticed by Itachi, and carefully began explaining his journey from the future back to the past. He started from the beginning, making sure to keep him as up to date as he did the Hokage, but with added details regarding personal matters. Naruto made sure to watch carefully for Itachi's reaction, and felt a little relieved at finding no distrust in those eyes. Explaining Sasuke's hate towards the village and towards Itachi himself was the most difficult, but he managed to keep a professional front. "But to answer the biggest unanswered question right now, Itachi, you told me about the massacre and the truth behind it. Like everyone else, if you had not told me the truth behind the massacre, I would've believed in the fabricated version where you were made to be the 'antagonist' so to speak."

Finishing his explanation, he stared at Itachi's eyes with his unwavering one. "I want to make things different this time around. I don't want you to be driven out of the village, I don't want you to be labeled as a missing nin, I don't want Sasuke growing up so full of hate and the idea of vengeance, and lastly... I don't want you to die. You don't deserve it."

Itashi was at a loss of how to react. It was too much for a person to take in all in one go, especially when it came from a child like Naruto. The look on The Third's face told him Naruto wasn't lying, but he had to make sure.

"Hokage-sama-" But before he could say anything, Naruto cut him off.

"I know it's a lot to take in, and you don't really have to believe everything I told you, but I'm taking your place in this mission. In a week, I will wipe out the Uchiha Clan; sans you and Sasuke." Naruto added, scrunching his eyebrows, thinking. Itachi kept a stoic front, no longer trusting himself to keep up with the Uchiha name if he allowed his expression to reveal his emotions.

"And if you fail?" both Naruto and the Third Hokage looked at Itachi.

"I wont."

"How are you so sure?" Itachi pressed. "You should not have had a chance to test out your abilities in this era if what you say is true and you have only arrived today. You may have been strong in the future, but all that is useless if you are not able to perform most of your jutsu's in this current time. Your child body is only able to contain so little chakra, and your physical strength would be near non existent."

Heavy silence lingered before Naruto finally spoke, "You forget about this little guy in me." Naruto pointed at his stomach, "This little guy here is willing to cooperate and he has more than enough Chakra to defeat your clan. The jutsu's i can use may be limited, however not as limited as you might think. For example, I created several different variations to the jutsu _rasengan_. The rasengan in itself is already quite dangerous, but I've created versions with even more lethal elements added to them. I cannot share with you which, or how, but I can guarantee that those variations will be more than enough for this purpose. Of course, on the other hand, you are right about me being out of practice in this body."

Naruto gestured to his small body. "I will have to use this week to my fullest if I am going to want to be anywhere near useful." Laughing, Naruto added, "But you are right about my physical strength. I will need to up my game if I'll want to do a satisfying job on the mission." He then glanced at the Hokage. "Which brings me to my next request, actually. Old man, will you give me permission to train in one of the training grounds in private?"

"That could be arranged." The Third slowly nodded in understanding.

Naruto flashed the Third a small smile before continuing, "The Jutsu's I am going to be practicing is going to be a little dangerous for people to be around me in close proximity. Although those jutsu's may be unnecessary for the mission, I still need to figure out if I am able to perform them. One can never be too careful after all."

Itachi raised an eyebrow and watched the exchange between the two in silence. Although he was still doubtful of the blond's abilities, he couldn't deny the relief he felt for not having to wipe out his beloved clan with his own two hands.

"Is there a specific training ground you have in mind?" Naruto bit his lips at the question. "Actually, yes, if you don't mind, of course. Do you think I could borrow training ground nineteen? It's the furthest away from the villlage and the chance of anyone coming by that specific training ground is rare, if memory serves me right."

"All yours." The Hokage agreed without a second thought, agreeing with Naruto's logic. "So, Itachi, that's how it is. I don't care how you explain the situation to your little brother, you can even tell him the truth if you'd like, but make sure word about this does not go out. No one but the three of us, and Sasuke if you chose to tell him, will know the truth of the event and I will keep it that way."

"Understood." Itachi replied with a curt nod and faced Naruto. "I don't know why you decided to interfere, I don't care why, but thank you, Naruto. For sparing me the grief of spilling the blood of my own family."

Naruto smiled softly, a kind of smile a small child should not be able to make. "Just do me a favor and be happy, alright?"

Itachi returned the smile with a small one of his own, "It's a promise."

_\- Five Years Later - Age 12 -_

Naruto had waited for so long for this day to come, and it had come at last. Today was the day Naruto would meet his sensei, Kakashi Hatake, and his two teammates. He had no doubt the two strongly disliked him from the way he acted in the academy and how the adults had influenced them. Just because he was reliving the past, it didn't mean the adults treated him any differently than how they treated him before. Enduring the hate and the cold eyes all over again, Naruto had to go through what it was like to have nothing again. Having a more mature mind and knowing why the adults treated him that way made no difference to the way he felt. Of course he understood, but understanding and feeling the pain were two different things.

During the five years, Naruto spent the majority of his time training to get his physical strength back and worked on enlarging his chakra reserves by constantly working himself to the maximum of his abilities and aiming for more. Thanks to that, he was able to overcome the weakness that came from a small body, and gained an even bigger advantage by recovering most of the ability he had when he was older. Re-learning the jutsus wasn't difficult, as Naruto already knew how it _felt_ when it was performed correctly and he didn't need to use his hands most of the time.

What was a little troublesome though, was when he did tire himself out while and the shadow clone he had set in the academy dispelled and the academy instructors scattered around looking for him. Of course, when Naruto felt like he couldn't hold the clone any longer, the clone would just act up during class and jump out the window, because a shadow clone wasn't something Naruto was supposed to be able to make in his academy days.

He purposely sat out during sparring sessions with his peers by creating a ruckus, or headed to the village for a nice prank, knowing the genins couldn't lay a single finger on him with the level difference. Naruto kept his usual sunny attitude, although it was different from how he was as a real child, that was as close as he could get without it looking a little... off.

A year after the massacre, The Third asked Naruto if he would be interested in Joining the ANBU with a cover-up identity, which Naruto gladly accepted. He was given a blank mask with no markings and was given the name Anonymous. Naruto, although strong, had never been a part of the ANBU and was happy about being a part of something new. Naruto's physique brought a lot of attention among the others, but in the ANBU, no one asked questions. They just simply accepted Naruto into their team, and they carried out missions as they would normally.

Being a fresh graduate of the academy though, Naruto knew he would have to balance his time well and that he would be spending less time as an ANBU operative, but more as a Genin of Konoha.

When Naruto opened the classroom door, the other graduates stared at him with a questioning glance, but Naruto pointedly ignored them. With a goofy smile in place, Naruto strode into the classroom, sitting himself next to Sasuke. They were not friends, but they were not enemies either, and Naruto was happy with just that. Sasuke had seen him a couple of times when he met up with Itachi for some casual chatting. The younger Uchiha never understood why the blond idiot from his class had any business with the brother he looked up to so much, and it frustrated him how the blond got more attention from Itachi than he ever got.

"I'm sure all of you are excited to find out who will be your teammates, but please settle down!" Iruka, their homeroom teacher sighed before continuing. "Beginning today, all of you are real Ninjas. You will all be grouped in threes and will be assigned a Jounin Sensei to train you and look out for you. The groups are balanced out so the more advanced are placed with the less advanced to make one team no better than the other."

The fresh graduates murmured in excitement.

Iruka began reading out the teams, and when he got to team seven, he flashed Naruto a prideful smile. "Team Seven will consist of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura immediately jumped up in joy, squealing about how she got put on the same team as '_Sasuke-sama', _while the said person sighed in defeat. Naruto pressed his lips into a thin line in an attempt to hide his amusement.

"Team Eight will consist of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga-" Iruka continued on, ignoring the commotion caused by the pink haired kunoichi.

By the time Iruka was done announcing the new genin teams, all the young graduates were eyeing their new teammates eagerly, wanting to talk to initiate a conversation with them. "Your Jounin Sensei's should arrive soon, but until then, meet up with your new teammates and familiarize yourself with one another." as soon as Iruka said that, everyone rushed to their teammates sides, bouncing in excitement at the thought of finally becoming ninjas.

Naruto sighed in nostalgia and glanced out the window. Knowing Kakashi wasn't going to appear anytime soon, and neither of his teammates were going to spare him a moment, Naruto closed his eyes. When the time came, Naruto wanted to tell Sakura and Sasuke the truth. Of course, Naruto wasn't stupid enough to actually tell them anything, anytime soon, but what about Kakashi? It was inevitable that Kakashi find out sooner or later, he was no idiot after all. But the problem was, would Kakashi believe him? Would he have to ask Ino's father and Shikamaru's father to be there when he told Kakashi? It would be a lot more convincing if he chose to do so... but that didn't change how slightly weary Naruto was about asking them for a personal favor.

"Sasuke-kun!" Naruto winced, breaking out of his thoughts as he cracked an eye open. "I'm so happy to be on the same team as you!" Sakura grinned. "Maybe we could finally go have dinner some time!"

"Or maybe we won't…" Naruto could hear Sasuke mutter under his breath. "Where is our Sensei anyway?"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle, which made Sakura narrow her eyes. "Hey, don't laugh when Sasuke-kun just asked a question!"

The blond held both his hands up defensively. "Aw Sakura-chan, but I was just laughing"

Sakura huffed and took a seat next to Sasuke. "As always, Sasuke's right though, where _is_ our Sensei? Are they even allowed to be late?"

Naruto held his tongue, being fully aware of his sensei's habits.

"Che, this is ridiculous." Sasuke sighed, burying his face in his arms, in frustration.

"The other teams are probably already all meeting up with their senseis and are probably already planning missions and stuff together..." Sakura sighed, sitting down next to 'her' Sasuke-kun. The three sat silently, all thinking about different things, until finally, their sensei decided to show up.

"Yo." Naruto felt his chest tightening at the sight of his teacher, so young and so... alive. He found it difficult to force himself to smile, so he just stared at him as blankly as he could without revealing too much of his feelings.

"_You're late!_" Sakura pointed out unnecessary loudly.

Kakashi decided to ignore her and glanced at the three of his soon to be students carefully while thinking. '_The young Uchiha, Haruno, and Uzumaki... the likelihood of them passing my class is 40 percent... Interesting.' _

_"_I would have to say..." The three students froze when their sensei finally muttered, carefully choosing his words to express himself to his best abilities. "I dislike you."

Unable to contain his laughter at the exact same words, Naruto chuckled, which earned him a couple of strange looks from the occupants of the classroom.

"You idiot, you're not supposed to laugh when someone says they dislike you!" Sakura glared, irritated at her classmates idiocy.

"Aah sorry, sorry." So he said, but he wasn't feeling sorry in the slightest. He was just so happy for this dejavu, he couldn't care less about what his teammates thought.

"He's just so used to having people disliking him, maybe he's starting to enjoy it." Sasuke spoke softly, but the air around them seemed to drop a few degrees and everything seemed to freeze in place.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly but he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned his attention towards the blonde, watching for a reaction, and raised an eyebrow when he didn't get the reaction he had predicted.

"Mmhm... I guess you could say that." He hummed, offering them his usual closed-eye grin. By doing this, he could hide how much Sasuke's comment had hurt him. To hear that from anyone else, it might've been easier for him to brush it off as nothing, but to hear this from someone like Sasuke... Then again, what did he actually expect from the Uchiha? Just because he prevented Itachi from being framed for treason... it wasn't as if Sasuke would _know_ anything about it. Itachi had probably told Sasuke of the Coup their father had been planning, but not what happened in Naruto's past and how much pain it would've caused him.

"Hmm... Meet me at the academy roof." and with that, Kakashi poofed away into a puff of smoke, leaving the three behind.

"Well, you guys heard him, let's go!" Sakura broke the silence and strutted towards Sasuke and clung onto his arm. "Comon, Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto smiled a slightly bitter smile and trailed behind the two in silence.

When they reached the rooftop, they were asked to introduce themselves to the rest of the group just as Naruto remembered.

"Uh- I like ramen, I dislike the time it takes for the ramen to cook, my hobbies are none of your business for now, and my hopes and dreams... you'll find out eventually." Naruto finished up with a big grin, flashing his pearly whites to his teammates. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. What the blonde had said went against almost everything he knew about the blonde. It was weird how Naruto was suddenly being so secretive, especially about his hopes and dreams since he had been announcing the fact that he wanted to become the Hokage since he was a very young child.

"Ok, and you?" Kakashi droned, uninterestingly pointing at Sakura.

"Oh! Um, the thing- or more like the person I like is..." Sakura glanced at Sasuke from the corner of her eyes." My hobbies are..." Sakura blushed, closing her eyes. "My hopes and dreams are..." She squealed arousing a series of winces from the three guys. "And I dislike Naruto." Sakura snapped her eyes open and glared at Naruto when he was mentioned.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. _'God help me please.' _

Sasuke coughed, ignoring the pink haired female and went on with his introduction. "What I like and dislike are none of your business." Naruto grimaced at how familiar this sounded. "I have no hobbies, and my hopes and dreams... is to beat a certain someone." Of course, everyone, including Kakashi immediately thought of Itachi when Sasuke mentioned a certain someone he wanted to surpass. However, Sasuke had a different person in mind. Growing up with no parents, Sasuke always heard stories from his older brother, and constantly, he would hear about one amazing Ninja who had seemed to capture his older brother's attention. It didn't matter if Itachi was romantically interested or just simply interested because the other was strong, it was unacceptable that his older brother was even sparing a bit of his time and attention to someone else, when he wasn't even teaching _him, _his own younger brother, how to train.

Itachi would always tell stories about how brave, selfless, and how much of a big person he was, but so was he, right? What did this mysterious person have that he didn't?

"Well, thank you for your surprisingly honest introduction." Kakashi said, although his voice didn't have a note of surprise in it. "Come to training ground three at 9 o'clock tomorrow for your first... let's call it a task. Tomorrow's _task_ will determine whether or not you guys are capable of being Ninja's in Konoha." Just as Sakura was about to object, Kakashi cut her off by saying, "Oh, and I advise you don't have breakfast because you're going to throw up and feel sick." He offered the three his famous eye-smile before poofing off.

Naruto immediately shot up from his spot and excused himself in hopes that he would be able to go talk to Kakashi. If Naruto's memory served him right, Kakashi would be at the memorial stone to spend some time thinking about his two teammates, his father, and his sensei.

When he was sure no one was looking, Naruto poofed to the memorial stone and silently cheered when he found Kakashi leaning against a tree.

Unlike Naruto's relief, Kakashi narrowed his eyes when he saw Naruto using a technique that shouldn't have been taught to a genin and hovered his hand around his weapons pouch. "Ah, Naruto… How nice of you to show up."

Naruto held both hands up, trying to appeal to the fact that he meant no harm to the white haired man. "Sensei, I know what you're thinking… but I am the real Naruto, and I'm just here to… talk."

Kakashi didn't relax though, and but instead, approached the blonde in careful strides. "A genin shouldn't be able to use the technique you just used." A blunt observation.

"Maybe that's what I'm here to talk to you about." Naruto said calmly, not backing down. "Look, all I want to do is talk, and I'd rather not do it where anyone could be eavesdropping on us, so could we go somewhere? It's a little important."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes but nodded reluctantly. He was sure he could take care of himself anyway if this happened to be some sort of trap.

Following behind his student, the two passed the streets of Konoha in silence until they arrived in front of the Hokage tower. Raising his visible eyebrow, Kakashi glanced down at his soon to be student, sending him a questioning glance.

"It's gonna be a lot more convincing if I have the Old Man there when I tell you…" Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his neck nervously while knocking on the door with his other hand. "Trust me, it's gonna be a little hard to believe."

When the two entered the office, Naruto was greeted by two more people than they were expecting.

"Ah, Naruto… I had a feeling I'd be seeing you here today." Inoichi greeted with a slight nod.

"We thought it be better for us to be here as well, knowing how stubborn Kakashi is." Shikaku added with a small smirk.

Naruto offered them a thankful smile and turned to face Kakashi who looked absolutely bewildered. With that, Naruto wasted no time letting Kakashi know of his situation; but only filled Kakashi as much as he had filled the Hokage. Of course, he left out the part about his involvement in the massacre, and about how Obito was very much alive. He figured he'd leave that part until a little later, when he had gained more of Kakashi's trust.

When Naruto finished, Kakashi released a deep breath, reaching up to massage his temples. "Hokage-sama, with all due respect, this is an impossible phenomenon and I have a difficult time believing all this."

"I know you have a hard time believing this, Kakashi-san, but I assure you, what Naruto is telling us is very much the truth. I used one of my interrogation methods on him to search for any lies, but there was no hint of it." Inoichi calmly spoke, already having guessed Kakashi's reactions.

"Yes, when Naruto was 7 years old, Naruto already knew how to perform the privacy seal, and he had a too good of a knowledge of _our_ world. Look Closely at Naruto's eyes Kakashi-san, do you not see all the death Naruto has seen?"

Naruto flinched at the honest words of Shikaku. It was true, no matter how well he tried to act, he couldn't unsee what he had already seen before. Having been through a war, death was an unavoidable issue.

Meanwhile, Kakashi took a moment look into Naruto's eyes, and this time, actually _look._ He noticed what he hadn't noticed before and he understood what the jounin had meant. Those were not the eyes of a mere genin, fresh out of the academy. No, those were the eyes of a killer.

"Naruto, then that means you know of-" Kakashi couldn't bare to finish his sentence but Naruto understood.

"Yeah... It took a while, but... I finally found out." Naruto forced a smile. Kakashi closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He didn't know how he should feel right at the moment. He felt as if he failed his sensei, but at the same time, he felt relieved of his duties as the only remaining disciple of his sensei, to tell the blonde about how his parents had died,and about- _everything._

"I see..." he breathed out. "And what are you going to do now? If you already know of the test I will be giving you tomorrow, will you tell your other two teammates?"

Naruto shook his head slowly. "To be honest, I don't know what I'm going to do... but I can't use half of my abilities until I meet the perverted hermi- I mean, Jiraya-sensei, so before then, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Sakura and Sasuke know me as the dead last anyway, so just, suppressing my chakra and purposely doing things wrong, I should be able to "improve" along with them. Of course, I'll be sending my shadow clones with you when we're doing anything as a team, so that should limit my chakra reserves quite a bit. I need to train to get ready for anything coming my way so I can-..." Naruto hesitated before dismissing the last part of his sentence and continuing. "and when I train, I use a lot of shadow clones, so I can get things done more efficiently, so I'll just send one of my shadow clones to the training ground with the team."

Kakashi raised a skeptical eyebrow, "And what if you get hit during the training? by either me or one of the either genins?"

Naruto laughed at the question, "I already knew the shadow clone when I graduated the academy so I'll just have a couple more clones on standby, pretending like that was the only clone I could make or something."

"I suppose that makes sense..." Kakashi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And you're telling me because you want me to know...?"

"Yeah, basically... and to let you know to look after Sasuke with care. Of course, Sakura needs to be taken care of as well, but Sasuke is the one with most risk. Orochimaru and... a couple of other people are going to want him for each their own reason, and Sasuke's desire to for power might get him swayed."

"Why not you try, Naruto? As far as I know, peers make a much better reason for someone's stay." Kakashi tried to reason.

"I would, but it didn't stop him last time." The corner of Naruto's lips curved into a bitter smile. "I doubt I can stop him a second time. He was pretty damned determined about killing me every time I tried to bring him back or tried to reason with him."

"But if what you say is true, then you have the power to stop him, to bring him back."

"Not without killing him." Naruto sighed. "Look, I tried and it didn't work, and I don't want to mess this up a second time, alright? So please... help."

The pleading look on Naruto's face was enough to get him to agree. "Alright, but eventually, you'll have to tell me everything you're not telling me right now, right?"

"I shouldn't have expected any less from you." Naruto chuckled.

Kakashi didn't feel so comfortable about having someone talk about him as if they knew so much about him although he didn't. This was what people normally called "having their tables turned", and Kakashi didn't like a single bit of it. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then Naruto; Hokage-sama, I am sorry for intruding, and Nara-san, Yamanaka-san, sorry for the inconvenience, but I really should get going." Kakashi offered them an eye-smile and jumped out the window.

Taking note of the Hokage's scowl, the corner of Naruto's lips curved into a cheeky smile, "And I apparently have a test I need to... prepare for, so I'll just be taking my leave as well..." Naruto took a step towards the window, "Bye Inoichi-ossan!" He took another step towards the window, "Bye Shikaku-ossan!" Another step towards the window, "Bye Old man!" and finally dashed out the window, not waiting for the Hokage to scold him for using the window as an exit, knowing how much he disliked it.

Sarutobi growled after the two, just as Naruto predicted. "How many times do I have to tell you guys to _stop using the window?!_"

Their test went as expected; Naruto had to pretend starvation after failing their original test, just like he had before in order to push his team to pass. But in the end, a pass was a pass altogether. The shadow clone of Naruto disbanded, causing a slight pause in Naruto's training. Sighing, he disbanded all of his other clones and went to sit down under a nearby tree.

"Itachi, I know you're there." Naruto said quietly.

"Congratulations on finally becoming a genin, Naruto." Itachi smirked, stepping out of the shadow.

Naruto snorted, "You should be congratulating Sasuke, not me." Itachi and Naruto had gotten quite close to each other throughout the years. Naruto had become something like a second younger brother to Itachi, and Sasuke didn't know anything about it. It would've been odd if Itachi had known Naruto although they had no other way of meeting with one another.

"Hn..."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the typical Uchiha response. "So what brings you here, Itachi?"

"Just thought I'd catch up with you. I just got back from my mission." Itachi slowly walked over, and sat down next to Naruto.

"ANBU?"

"Hn..."

"Ahh... Lucky..." Naruto sighed. It wasn't a secret that Naruto couldn't handle sitting still. Considering his experience, he usually had barely to any time at all to relax after all. "It's so boring just sitting around training... Especially because the things I can do is so limited when I have to be out of sight..."

Itachi nodded his head slowly in understanding. Although he prefered peace and quiet, he could understand why Naruto would be feeling in such a way. "Why not talk to Hokage-sama to give a mission either today or tomorrow?" Itachi suggested with a sideway glance. "I doubt one mission is going to tire you out for your genin training especially if all you're going to be doing is chasing after Tora-chan..."

Naruto involuntarily flinched at the reminder of having to chase after Tora. "You're right, I suppose..."

"Besides, your team misses you."

"Really." Naruto raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"They noticed you weren't around for missions as much." Itachi reworded his sentence.

Scoffing, Naruto sat up. In the ANBU, everyone wore masks, and only the ANBU unit team you were a part of knew your real identity. Of course, some people were a complete giveaway because of some of their distinct features, such as voice or hair, but for most ANBU members, you couldn't tell what their real identities were. Naruto was one of the people everyone could recognize, because very few had his hair and the height difference between him and the other adults were much too great.

He didn't bother with disguises, since it used up unnecessary chakra and because Naruto didn't like the idea of having to hide his identity. He was more of an 'in your face' kind of person anyway.

In an abrupt motion, Naruto jumped up from his spot and walked over to stand in front of a befuddled looking Itachi. "Let's spar."

"Now?" Itachi raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yeah, now." Naruto grinned one of his goofy toothy grins, and thats when Itachi knew he just couldn't refuse.

"Fine."


End file.
